US accuses China of gathering 220M voter records

The Trump administration on Thursday, July 30, 2026, formally accused China of conducting election interference through the acquisition of American voter registration data, a charge supported by a newly released intelligence assessment. Senior U.S. intelligence leaders concluded that China's alleged collection of approximately 220 million voter files over several years meets the government's definition of foreign interference targeting election systems.

According to a White House fact sheet approved by the directors of the CIA, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Chinese actors purchased, stole, or hacked the files. The data included information that was not publicly available, though officials did not specify the exact private details obtained or identify all affected states. The administration stated that China's efforts spanned years, with tens of millions of files obtained from 18 states in 2020 and the total reaching 220 million by 2023. Chinese cyber actors were also flagged in 2022 for acquiring voter registration data stored on commercial websites.

The allegations were first detailed publicly by...